Chapter 496 (1/2)

The kid was so direct that the whole group couldn’t help but smile. Afterall, what would a 10-year-old know of the decisions that adults needed to make?

Hank grinned and squatted down next to the kid. Whereas the orange haired teen was constantly badgering him, Hank was much more pleased by this relatively reserved boy who stood by and watched the adults talked. It reminded him of Jane.

”Heya partner,” Hank extended his hand. ”It might be dumb, but sometimes you need to sacrifice things if you are focused on a specific goal. My name's Hank, by the way. What's yours?”

”Nathan,” Nathan said, shaking Hank's hand. Then he regarded him critically. ”Hank, are you a cowboy? You look like one.”

Hank chuckled. ”Well, I like to think so.”

”What's your Class?” Nathan pressed, looking at Hank with serious eyes.

Blinking, Hank considered being quiet to hide his strength, but it wasn't like they were enemies. He knew it was a decision that would make Ghost frown, but there seemed no harm in saying it. ”Gunslinger.”

”Oh interesting,” Nathan's eyes went wide, and Hank straightened, pleased with how the conversation went. But then Nathan spoke again, and Hank was struck dumb. ”What were your starting Skills? Your Stat gains per Level? What are your primary stats?”

”Uh...”

”Can I just see your Class? That will be easier.” Nathan announced.

Hank just looked down at the serious child. ”You want to see... my status screen?”

”No, I want to see-” Nathan began, but he was interrupted.

”This can wait until later,” Dinesh said, his hand clapping on Nathan's shoulder, instantly shutting him up. The Indian man smiled at Hank's group. ”Anybody hungry?”

****

Ghost considered the new information that was flowing through him.

Ever since his creation, Dr. Karman had warned him that although their Zone 1 was the most well prepared, and the Zone that the System had judged to have the most potential, that the greatest advantage of humanity was their adaptability and creativity. It was the same advantage that Ghost himself possessed, as an AI. Humans would struggle against any obstacle, overcoming it in strange and unpredictable ways.

As if proving that very point, Dr. Karman had told him that contrary to expectations, their Zone was not the first to found a village; that honor went to another location. Although there were a thousand ways that whichever Zone that had accomplished that could fail, there was also a much greater chance that this rival Zone would be able to survive the trials and meet them in the final portion of the System's reorganization of the world.

From the very first instance of viewing Dinesh and Tykes, Ghost was sure that this very situation had come to pass.

What Ghost couldn't understand was what exactly was the advantage that this Zone possessed, that it allowed them to come so far. It was clear from Dinesh's comments that it wasn't a materials advantage. Their rather primitive, if intriguing, armor demonstrated that they really started with very few advantages. Ghost wasn't exactly sure how many Zones were created on Earth but suspected that it couldn't be much more than one hundred. This was due to the size of the Zones, as well as the size of the areas of land that had been frozen in time and added to their Zone. The System rearranged land, but it was at least limited by the area of Earth.

Perhaps the true weight hanging over Ghost was the decision over what to DO about this new Zone. The initial contact with these strangers seemed to indicate that the Zone they came from was strong, but Ghost's calculations indicated that they likely had a much smaller populous to draw from. It wasn't an ideal solution, but should it come to war Ghost wasn't above using a superior number of Tier 1 citizens to overwhelm the opposition with plasma pistols. In addition to that... perhaps it was time to move forward with some of Ghost's other plans. Ghost made a memo to jump-start the drone initiative so that the Zone wouldn't be too suspicious when he revealed his own secrets forces.

Unfortunately for him, those forces could only be considered upper-class Tier 5 citizens, based on his scale. From that small conflict alone, it was clear that the two individuals from Zone 32 were Tier 6, at the very least. Ghost was glad that he had spent the time and effort to train those long distance sniper squads. These close-range specialists were dangerous, but there were still methods of dealing with them.